


Stars

by Miso



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Emotional Constipation, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, Love Confessions, M/M, Sort Of, anyway, badly written robotnik, its 2020 and we're out here unironically writing sonic fanfic, just badly written in general, mentions of animal death, no betas no first drafts we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23195740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miso/pseuds/Miso
Summary: Robotnik is above human emotions. Or so he thought.
Relationships: Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik/Agent Stone
Comments: 9
Kudos: 128





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> yknow i really didnt expect the first actual published writing ive done in almost a year to be a sonic the hedgehog fanfic but here we are. cringe culture is dead and jim carreys robotnik pissed on its grave
> 
> so i saw the sonic movie, jimbotnik has me by one tit and this stupid ship has me by the other, i did not expect to walk out of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) shipping crazy robot man and his himbo assistant
> 
> written quickly to dip my toe into this fandom, still love red dead 2, just not writing it much these days. im sure they're ooc, itll get better, next thing i write will probably be smut knowing me

For as much as he hated humans and their flaws, there were a few things humanity as a species had done that Robotnik found himself liking. Most of it was purely technological- air conditioning, indoor plumbing, refrigeration- but there was one _person_ he tolerated.

Agent Stone.

Their evolution from reluctant boss and employer, to sort-of-friends, to... whatever they were now had been slow. Stone was by far the longest-lasting of any of Robotnik's government-appointed babysitters. He was also the most tolerable. He made damn fine coffee, for starters. Lattes were his specialty, with special imported milk that Robotnik insisted upon and just the right amount of sugar. He was undyingly loyal and stuck his neck out for Robotnik more times than either of them could count, pushing the Doctor behind him and reaching for his gun at the slightest sign of trouble.

Having someone concerned about him, someone who seemed to genuinely care for his well-being... well, it wasn't something Robotnik was used to. Most people would be more than happy if he just vanished off the face of the earth, maybe sent to some other part of the universe. They'd be glad to know he was gone, and easily pretend he never existed. Not Stone. As much as Ivo was loathe to admit it- he liked to think he was above things so silly as human emotion, most especially anything as frivolous as caring for other living beings- he liked Stone. He liked him a lot. He would never say it aloud, of course, not to Stone's face. Certainly not to his face (his stupid handsome face with a smile that could provide solar power), but in his own ways he would say it. He'd outright told Stone he loved the way he made coffee, which was about the nicest thing he could say without wanting to vomit up all of his organs. More privately, he loved how adoring Stone was, how he heaped praise on Robotnik and his work and inventions. He loved how Stone would slave over a hot stove and make sure he ate, when Ivo himself either didn't remember to or couldn't be bothered to.

He loved Stone, and that scared him. Love was such a trivial emotion, one he liked to think of himself as being better than. The last time he loved anything, anyone, it was the guinea pigs all of the kids in the orphanage took care of, but over time, became primarily his. One morning when he went to feed them, he found them still in their pen, dead as hammers, little necks snapped by one of the boys that hated him for reasons he didn't understand.

That was the last time he loved anything. Anything animate, anyway. And now as he sat at his workbench in his mobile lab-slash-home, settled in the back of a re-purposed eighteen-wheeler, Ivo twirled the end of his mustache and thought. He had to rectify this situation he'd gotten himself into with Stone, fawning over him in private like a lovesick school boy. It was nauseating, the way he thought about him, about pulling him in by his tie for a kiss, about the way his beard would scratch against him as the handsome, _so stupid so handsome_ , agent kissed down his throat, his chest, opening the buttons of his shirt with the reverence a man like Ivo deserved, the respect he commanded. How his large, warm hands would roam over his skin, drinking him in like a man in the desert desperate for water, how-

A sudden thump and the lights going dead interrupted his thoughts. With a frustrated groan, Ivo shoved himself up from his workbench, prepared to check the circuit breaker when the backup power source kicked in. The lights were on- a good thing- but the truck didn't seem to be moving. "Stone!" he called over the intercom that ran through the truck, "Lab! Now!"

As quickly as he'd been called, Stone came through the automated door. "Doctor?"

"Is there a reason the truck's stopped?"

"Well... I'm not sure yet," Stone admitted. "I was going to look at the engine when you called. I don't know if we hit something, or-"

"Don't stand there and give me a novel of explanations, Agent Stone," the Doctor cut him off, "get out there and look at the engine."

\---

"Something blew in the engine," Stone explained as he re-entered the lab. "We're not going anywhere tonight, Doctor. Not until we can get someone to fix it."

"Agent Stone." Robotnik steepled his fingers on his workbench, not looking at the man behind him. "Open your mouth and tell me why it is you think I'm not capable of fixing the engine of a truck I practically built."

"That's not what I meant at all, Doctor," Stone quickly explained. "I just meant that it's awfully late and- I'm sure you can fix the problem quickly, but you should be turning in soon anyway-"

"If I can fix the issue quickly, why is it such an issue that it's late? Are you trying to tell me something, Agent Stone?"

"I-um-I don't..." Stone swallowed, hard, audibly so. Robotnik tried not to make it obvious that he was listening to every little change in breathing and tone out of his... friend? Henchman? Crush (gag)? Stone took a deep breath and steadied himself. "I... was just thinking that it's a nice night, sir. Perhaps a little fresh air would do you some good. And since the engine isn't working..."

"And you couldn't say that from the beginning?" Robotnik snorted a little, standing and brushing past Stone, tapping a few buttons on the palms of his gloves. "Fine. Fresh air it is."

 _Huh. That was easier than I thought it would be,_ Stone mused to himself as the pair exited the truck. The mountainous air was cool and crisp in the night, bugs and frogs singing in the distance, a few night-birds doing the same. Stone felt himself smile and relax, leaning against the guardrail at the edge of the road. "You know," he began, as Ivo swatted at a fly that came a bit too close to him for his liking, "I admire you, Doctor. I've made that... pretty clear. But one thing about you I've never understood-"

"There's much about me you never understood, Stone, and you never will." The Doctor was remaining as close to the truck as possible. "You simply can't process information the way I can. You're smarter than the others the government sent, sure, but you're still-"

"Doctor."

The sheer audacity of Stone to interrupt him silenced Ivo.

"Thank you. I just wanted to say I never understood why you didn't like... being outside. Just breathing in all this... cool, beautiful mountain air, looking at the trees, at the stars. Look around you. Complete darkness. I bet the sky is amazing right now." He paused, glanced at the truck. "... Do you have a way to get onto the roof of this thing?"

"What in the hell are you getting at, Stone?"

A ladder at the back of the truck was the answer Stone was looking for. "Come on, Doctor. Live a little bit." He climbed onto the ladder and gestured for Ivo to follow. "Just come up here, look at the stars for a while." He vanished onto the roof of the trailer, and with a defeated sigh- _god, Ivo, what's gotten into you?_ \- the Doctor followed. Stone was laid out on his back, gazing up at the sky. "The stars are breathtaking, sir."

Bathed in moonlight, a serene little smile on his face, Robotnik caught himself thinking that the sight he was drinking in right now was more _breathtaking_ than the stars could ever be. He swallowed the thought, though, and sat down beside Stone, grateful the trailer was big enough for a bit of breathing room between them. The stars were lovely, he supposed, to a layperson.

"I don't see the beauty, Stone."

"Why not?"

"Stars are nothing special. They're just flaming balls of gas, billions of miles from us. What's there to love about that?"

"You always look at things scientifically, Doctor."

"Life is science, Stone, everything can be explained or controlled by science. Everything is science. I look at things the way they are."

"... Do you, though?"

A pause. That was a question the Doctor hadn't been prepared for. "... Stone," he began, quickly switching the subject, "if you don't mind, since you're insistent on us staying put in this hillbilly hellhole of a state for the time being, I'll be retiring for the night."

He shifted to leave, and for just a minute, a fleeting moment, their fingers brushed. Even through the Kevlar and circuitry of his gloves, Ivo thought- for just a second- sparks flew. The pair stared at each other, and Stone's mouth opened and shut a few times like a fish out of water. They began stumbling over apologies, stopping and starting. Whose fault was it? Who had touched whose hand? Hard telling.

_Why is my heart beating like this? Is this what a heart attack feels like? No, Ivo, you fool, that's when there's a clot preventing blood from circulating. Your blood is circulating fine. You wouldn't be blushing if it- wait, you're blushing._

"... Doctor," Stone began in the silence, sitting up. "Are you okay? Your face is really red." Ivo risked eye contact. The sheer concern in Stone's face made his heart race even more. He was starting to wonder if he was going to die like this, just keel over from an overload of adrenaline and nerves, when Stone spoke again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Agent Stone. You did not upset me. For once, I'm... not upset. I'm a bit _panicked_ and I feel like my heart is about to explode, but I'm not upset."

"Doctor-"

"Silence yourself."

Swallowing hard, Robotnik took a deep breath, took Stone's hand in his own, and threaded their fingers together. "... I have tried to the best of my ability to hate you the way I hate every other human being on this planet," he began, "but time and time again you force me to _fail_ that endeavor. I cannot hate you. I've tried."

Stone remained silent, his eyes (so dark, so brown, so beautiful, god Ivo wanted to beat himself over the head with a bat for thinking that) intense and focused on the Doctor's face.

"Agent, I fear I... might have developed a certain amount of physical and emotional attraction towards you, and it scares the everloving hell out of me."

"... Doctor, are you-"

"Don't make me say it, Stone."

Another beat passed between the two. Stone gently squeezed Ivo's hand, brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, and for a moment Robotnik again thought he would die.

"You can call me Aban, sir."

"Well, then." A smirk on Robotnik's face. "I suppose it's only fair I let you refer to me as Ivo every now and then."

"... I think I can get used to that, Doc- er. Ivo."

"Not in front of others, Agent. Am I making myself clear? You and I, whatever we are, it's under wraps."

"Of course."

"Good. You're smarter than you act." The pair fell quiet for just a moment. "I'm being chewed up by mosquitoes out here, Stone. I'm sure you thought this was all very romantic, but the itching is ruining it for me."

"Good point."


End file.
